Burnham pledges devolution and discipline if he becomes UK prime minister
Key takeaways
- The frontrunner to succeed Keir Starmer was criticised for not taking questions after a speech setting out his policy vision.
- Instead, it can only be nurtured from the bottom up,” Burnham said.
- “If councils can’t fix potholes, what chance do they have of bringing forward major regeneration schemes to get growth going?”
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
The frontrunner to succeed Keir Starmer was criticised for not taking questions after a speech setting out his policy vision.
xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogle Add Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Andy Burnham, British member of parliament (MP) for Makerfield, shakes hands with South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard as he arrives to deliver a speech at the People's History Museum in Manchester, Britain, June 29, 2026 [Temilade Adelaja/Reuters]By AP and Reuters Published On 29 Jun 202629 Jun 2026Andy Burnham, the frontrunner to become Britain’s next prime minister, has vowed to “bring about the biggest rebalancing of power our country has seen” by handing more autonomy to the regions if he succeeds Keir Starmer.
In a speech on Monday setting out his policy vision, in Manchester where he spent nine years as mayor, Burnham pledged fiscal discipline and promised to reduce Britain’s ballooning welfare bill, having already sought to calm markets by committing to the government’s current borrowing limits.